Trail Name: Sewemup Mesa Trail
Best Use: Hiking
Best Time for Use: Hiking – All-Year.
Difficulty: Hiking – Intermediate
Length: 3.0 miles 6.4 km) out and back from the trailhead
Start Elevation: 4,730 ft (1,451 m)
Maximum Elev Gain and Loss from Start Elev: 600 ft, (183 m) gain – 0 ft. (0 m) loss
Trail Surface and Use: A very lightly used single track trail.
Trail Head Access: Suitable for 2WD auto. Park along the side of Highway 141 about 800 ft (244 m) north of milepost 92.
Trail Head Coordinates: 685,985E; 4,260,081N UTM WGS84 Zone12
Best Feature: Wild and undisturbed mesa top (a Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Wilderness Study Area (WSA) with incised canyons. Great views of Blue Mesa, the Dolores River and other features.
Caution: Steep narrow trail through large boulders for the first 0.25 mi (400 m).

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD A PDF VERSION, GPX VERSION, OR KMZ VERSION OF THE SEWEMUP MESA TRAIL.

Description: From the trailhead, hike up a good trail to a perched gravel bed that has placer workings. Travel around the left side of the workings and pick up a narrow trail marked by small rock cairns. Follow the cairns up through a portion of broken-down cliff until you reach the top of a small knoll. From here the views are expansive. The trail goes west passing onto a number of small areas of slick rock, veering left on the south side of a small sandstone topped hill. The GPS trail stops at the first good drainage to the west of the hill. The trail (an old, abandoned cattle trail) is an entrance route into the remote WSA. From here, cross-country travel in any direction is possible.
Sewemup Mesa used to be a hideout for cattle rustlers, and the legend says that the name of the mesa comes from the rustlers “sewing” new brands over the old ones on the cattle.